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CAA Responds to Lawsuit Against Access Copyright

The Canadian Authors Association (CAA) is shocked and dismayed by the lawsuit filed against Access Copyright by the Ministries of Education in most of the provinces and territories in Canada as well as all of the school boards in Ontario. We join The Writers’ Union of Canada and the Association of Canadian Publishers in calling for the ministries and school boards to withdraw this lawsuit and respond to the Access Copyright call for meaningful dialogue.

As a founding member of Access Copyright, CAA stands in full support of this copyright collective, its defense of authors’ copyright, and the steps it takes to ensure proper compensation for the use of authors’ copyrighted materials.

This is a direct attack on Canadian authors and publishers who struggle enough as it is to earn sufficient income from their copyrighted work,” said CAA National Chair Margaret Anne Hume. “Instead of expensive legal action that will cause further division among us, we call on the ministries and school boards to engage with Access Copyright in open-minded discussion that will result in a solution acceptable by all.”

CAA reminds the ministries of education and the school boards that the Federal Court of Canada in its July 2017 decision in Access Copyright vs. York University stated that the ministries and school boards cannot opt out of copyright tariffs certified by the Copyright Board.

CAA is also mindful that this lawsuit has been launched during the federal government’s mandatory review of the copyright legislation and in particular the 2012 enactment of the controversial educational purposes fair dealing exception. “Our organization is strongly encouraging its members to contact their Members of Parliament to inform them that this lawsuit against Access Copyright feels like a lawsuit against creators, and to urge the federal government to remove the educational purposes fair dealing exception,” said Anita Purcell, CAA executive director.